De Beers, a leading diamond mining firm based in Luxembourg, on Wednesday warned that global production of diamonds could take a hit from 2020 due to ever-increasing demand from US, China and India. The demand from these nations will create a seller's market, the firm said.
"Even under scenarios of volatile or weaker global economic growth, the demand for diamonds is expected to show positive real growth in the next decade," De Beers added.
It emphasised that new discoveries are essential as existing mines in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia are getting depleted of this $85-billion a year industry.
Following the scarcity of mines, exploration has begun in Angola, the democratic republic of Conga, Zimbabwe, Arctic Siberia and Canada.
China, India demand to rise:
China's share jumped 15% of the world's diamond market in 2003, but is not expected to beat USA's 40% share for more than a decade, De Beers CEO Philippe Mellier was quoted as saying in an NDTV report.
In USA, over one in six diamond jewelleries was bought online and one-fourth of diamond customers in China research on diamond before purchasing it, reports VCCircle.
"Consumer demand remains the one true source of value for the diamond industry. With demand forecast to increase further from 2013's record levels, the opportunity for growth is clear. But this must not be seen as cause for complacency. The industry will continue to lose ground to other categories if it does not invest significantly in production, marketing and technology," Philippe Mellier, chief executive, De Beers Group, said.
Ther global diamond sales saw a jump of 3% since 2012 and stood at $79 billion (₹4.7 lakh crore) in 2013. The report added that sales are expected to rise in the long term following the recovery of US economy besides overall growth of the middle class in the developing markets of China and India.
The Indian diamond jewellery market grew by a neat 12% during 2008-13. Earlier, the firm had said that it anticipated good second-quarter results in India due to increasing demand for the gem.
